Biologist Christen Steel will discuss the benefits milkweed in home gardens and dispel misconceptions of the plant at the meeting of the Master Gardeners of Greater New Orleans at 6 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 18, at the East Bank Regional Library, 4747 W. Napoleon, Metairie.

This event is free of charge and is open to the public. There is no registration.

Milkweeds (Asclepias) get their name from the sticky white sap that oozes from the leaves when they are damaged. More than 100 species of this herbaceous perennial are native to the U.S. and Canada. Milkweed is crucial to endangered monarch butterflies because they lay their eggs on this plant and only this plant.

During this presentation, Steel will discuss the following:
• How do I determine which kind of milkweed I should plant?
• When should I have it in my garden?
• How does the kind of milkweed I grow affect the health of the monarch butterflies and caterpillars I want to attract and support?

Steel says that monarch butterflies are famous for their annual long distance migration from southern Canada to Michoacán, Mexico, where the species over-winter in “reproductive diapause.” During the last decade, a small percentage of monarchs along the Gulf Coast have been found to be “dropping-out” of migration in favor of breeding over winter on the non-native, tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica, which is often planted in urban environments and remains in bloom after native perennial milkweed has become dormant.

Christen Steel is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Tulane University. Her research is titled "Investigating the Impacts of a Non-native Milkweed, Asclepias curassavica, on Populations of the Monarch Butterfly Along the Northern Gulf Coast."
Along with Steele, other gardening experts will be on hand to share their experience and recommendations on raising monarchs and growing various types of milkweed.



For more information regarding this event, contact Chris Smith, Manager of Adult Programming for the library, at 504-889-8143 or wcsmith@jefferson.lib.la.us.

Serving Jefferson, Orleans, Plaquemines and St. Bernard parishes, the Master Gardeners of Greater New Orleans strives to aid the LSU AgCenter to meet the educational needs of home gardeners in our community while providing enjoyable, worthwhile service experience for its members.